Athletics centre part of Olympic Park redevelopment

The Victorian Government is poised to spend $50 million building a new state athletics centre at Albert Park.

The Government is expected to detail significant spending as part of the restructure of the Olympic Park sporting precinct.

Under the plans, as much as $50 million is expected to be set aside in next week's Budget with plans to build a new 5000-seat State Athletics Centre at Albert Park.

Olympic Park's stands will be ripped down and its historic running track moved to Albert Park.

Sports Minister James Merlino said it was a "giant step forward" for sport in Melbourne and would help develop Australia's next batch of Olympic stars.

"This is bringing all the principle Olympic sports into the one precinct," he said.

"So you'll have the track and field sports, the aquatic sports in the one precinct with world-class facilities."

The project was unveiled just a day after the Government's plans for Federation Square East were revealed in the Herald Sun.

Mr Brumby said the completion of the Olympic Park precinct would provide an extra playing surface for the different football codes set to share the new rectangular stadium development.

"We're committed to these things because we think they're the best thing for athletics, and for sport generally," he said. "I want (it) to become the best sports precinct anywhere in the world."

AFL teams Collingwood and Melbourne will be co-tenants with NRL team Melbourne Storm and the A-League's Melbourne Victory in the Olympic Park precinct.

But Mr Merlino denied that the changes would destroy the historic value of the area that was established when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympic Games.

"This is an evolving precinct and it has, for decades, been an evolving precinct," he said. "It will always have that link to the (1956 Melbourne) Olympic Games and to the MCG."

Shadow treasurer Kim Wells will today deliver a pre-Budget speech questioning the way the Government has spent revenue since 1999.

Foreshadowing a major Coalition review of tax policy, Mr Wells will accuse Labor of failing to increase services.

"The crux of the problem facing Victoria is that while the Brumby Labor Government has benefited from a record level of tax revenue, it has failed to increase basic services in line with our growing population," he will argue.